1 year/$0.6M (2008). Re-signed by Oakland 10/25/07 (split contract, $0.15M in minors). Played 2008 and 2009 for Hiroshima of Japanese Central League.

1 year/$0.5M (2007). Signed by Washington 11/06. Released by Washington 3/07. Signed by Oakland as a free agent 3/07. Contract purchased by Oakland 5/22/07, DFA 7/16/07. Contract purchased by Oakland 8/29/07. Claimed by Kansas City off waivers from Oakland 11/2/07. Released by Kansas City 12/07.

Help! My AL-only team has six players on the DL (Parker, Fister, Willingham, Profar, Izturis, and Pryor), two others nursing hammys (Hardy, Eaton), and a reliever sent down to AAA (Feliz).
I can't convince anyone to part with an extra infielder for picks, so I'm stuck relying on the supplemental draft this week. Two picks. I plan on taking an IF and pitcher.
Is Yangervis Solarte for real? Should I take him? The alternatives are Roberts, Goins, Flaherty, Sogard, and Wilson.
How about Betances? Or should I go for a more stolid Colby Lewis, Aaron Harang or Chris Capuano?(touchstoneQu from Erie, PA)

The best part about Scoresheet is that you donít have to answer the question of whether Yangervis Solarte is for real. When looking for playing time, your more pressing concern is whether the Yankees think heís for real, and thatís likely been answered in the affirmative. We discussed this in the pod, but Solarte should be good for a little pop and some flexibility at both second and third. Sogard would be next, but maybe we just want to overturn that #FaceofMLB fiasco. As for pitchers, stolidness rules the day. We lean towards Lewis or the surprisingly resilient Harang. Betances is enticing, but if youíre in the hunt, you can probably get top shelf relief from a non-contender later in the season. (Scoresheet Chat with Ben, Jared, and Ian)

How much fun has it been for you seeing the steps forward Martin Perez has taken this year since you've covered him since he signed?(Tex2045 from Augusta, Georgia)

Lots of fun. It's never been an issue of not caring. In fact, it's been the opposite. Perez often had a tendency to overthrow in the past, which would cause him to fly open in his delivery and led to side-to-side misses. Round Rock pitching coach Brad Holman told me that they simply had Perez take a deep breath between big pitches, and that helped him slow the game down and relax. As a result, everything worked a lot better. Funny how simple things can be, sometimes. Either way, he's looking like at least a no. 3 starter. The stuff is taking a slight step forward, the command has mostly been strong, and he's looking more and more confident with each start. If the Rangers reach the postseason, he may have to be one of the four starters, given this week's news on Matt Harrison and Colby Lewis. (Jason Cole)

Does WARP pay any attention to left/right splits with respect to value. Jose Altuve has a 3.3 Warp despite being ordinary against righties, whom he sees the majority of times.
Likewise,righty Colby Lewis is ordinary against lefties, but has the same WARP as Tommy Milone who pitched about twice as many starts and whose split is fairly ordinary for a lefty.
Given platooning, isn't Milone a better pitcher than Lewis? And even with positional adjustments, shouldn't we prefer Pablo Sandoval with fewer ABs and a more even split vs Altuve even though according to WARP they are of similar value?(pathard from London)

There's no platoon adjustment in WARP. The lack of use a platoon player gets in terms of the WARP they accumulate is very real, though, and playing time is one of the big reasons we use replacement-level baselines. Now, there is an argument to be made that there's an additional roster spot opportunity cost WARP isn't factoring in, but I don't know how to quantify that. (Colin Wyers)

Two starts in, his fastball velocity is down (again!) from the previous year...how worried should Lincecum owners be? (michaelmcduffe from ottawa)

I normally advocate patience this early in the season when weíre dealing with samples this small (especially when the peripherals are great), and I would with Lincecum to a large extent, but there is some reason to be a little worried. If you look at his PITCHf/x velocity charts from last year, youíll notice that his velocity really started falling off in the second-half, and though there is the possibility of calibration issues/guns running low/etc, it doesnít appear as though Lincecum has recovered his velocity at all this year. The combination of these two things is worrisome, especially when you consider that pitchers who lose velocity struggle to ever get back to where they were.

I posted an article about this (in regard to Colby Lewis) last season at THT right before I came over to BP, which Iíd highly recommend reading: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/velocity-strikeouts-and-colby-lewiss-rough-start/

Bottom line seems to be that Lincecum could be slightly less valuable with diminished velo, but he at least appears to be healthy and has ways of succeeding aside from the couple mph heís lost. Even with lessened velocity in the second-half of 2011, he was still a very good pitcher. He might fall from my top 5, but Iíd definitely still have him top 15 and probably top 10. (Derek Carty)

Cory, in a 20 team 4 x 4 league, would you prefer Colby Lewis for $1 in final year or EJax for $7, with 2 years left, the first of which appears to be in Wash. Same format, please rank Revere, Valencia and Reimhold. Thanks.(stewbies from Rochester, NY)

And on that note, I'd take Lewis for $1, because I'd rather commit fewer years and less dollars to #3 or #4 starters. As with Beachy over Holland, the "environment" favors E-Jax, but otherwise I think they're comparable pitchers so I'll take the value pick. And... Reimold, Revere, Valencia. I still think Reimold has some meaningful offensive upside if he can just stay healthy and get in the lineup regularly. (Cory Schwartz)

What are your thoughts on Colby Lewis. 19 longballs allowed already. Should I be concerned and try to move him or wait this out? Thanks...(LoyalRoyal from Daddy Daycare)

I loved Lewis coming into the year, and he was on my short list to talk about this week, but I think I'll go over wins instead, as a result of Question #1 today. I don't love him as much as I did at the beginning of the year, but I still like him. The 19 HR are the result of both an unlucky HR/FB and a drop in FB%, which could be more legit. His pitch movement looks about the same, though, aside from his change-up getting a bit less vertical movement (though he only throws it 10% of the time). The FB% would be my biggest concern with him right now, and that's something that needs deeper analysis, though even if it remains the same, he's still allowing a few too many homers. A good thought for a future article.

The other thing that's a little worrisome is the drop in velocity, which I discussed at length at The Hardball Times shortly before coming to BP (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fantasy/article/velocity-strikeouts-and-colby-lewiss-rough-start/). His strikeout has done pretty much what I said to expect then, which is drop a little but not a lot. In his last start, Lewis had his best velocity of the season, averaging just a bit under 90 MPH, so that's even more encouraging.

Lewis is a guy that's rosterable in all AL-only and most mixed leagues, but he's looking like a different pitcher than the one I expected to be a surprise staff anchor this year. (Derek Carty)

Hey John, in my 6x6 roto league, my starting pitchers are Haren, Hanson, Hudson, Colby Lewis, Scott Baker, Morrow, Matusz, Ogando, and Drabek. I could use an additional bat and was offered Eric Hosmer for Brandon Morrow, you think I should take it?(SnakeDoctor18 from NY)

Indeed, I'd make that trade. I like Morrow but Hosmer is in a class above him. Go make that trade right now before the other guy read this. (John Perrotto)

Hey Marc, my deep pitching staff in my current 12-team 6x6 roto league is Haren, Hanson, Hudson, Morrow, Drabek, Ogando, Colby Lewis, Matusz, and Scott Baker. Who do you think I should attempt to trade for some offense? (SnakeDoctor18 from NY)

Ogando, if someone is willing to give you something worthwhile for him. Is it a keeper league? Morrow would be another good sell in a single-year league, given the hype surrounding him versus his actual production. (Marc Normandin)

Hi Christina, let me ask what may become an annual question- who do you think will be this year's breakout pitchers (aside from Latos). When I first asked you this question in person years ago you said you really liked a young stud named Danny Haren (worked out nice) and last year you said Anderson and Romero (not bad). For 2011...? Thanks, Dan(DanDaMan from SeaCliff)

I don't have any special Kreskin-like abilities... I guess I see those sorts of expectations as eminently reasonable and predictable. This year, if I had to say "he's turning the corner," I'd peg John Danks, Colby Lewis, and Wandy Rodriguez as people who will surpass expectations. (Christina Kahrl)

In my Strat-O-Matic league, Hellickson, Garcia, Bumgarner, Colby Lewis and Niese will be in next year's rookie draft along with Strasburg. Teams are allowed unlimited keepers, and next year's games are played using this year's stats. Given that, would you take any (or all) of those guys ahead of Strasburg?
(Rex Little from Big Bear, CA)

I'm afraid I don't know how Strat works well enough to answer this - does that mean that Strasburg will be limited to his actual innings pitched, or can you use him for a full season? (Colin Wyers)

Rasmus, Youkilis. Buchholz, Lewis. That's the best combination of talent/contracts you have. Votto's fantastic, but getting Youkilis for $20 less is huge. Tim Hudson has been having a great season, but it's not the kind you should be betting on happening again next year. Lewis will do more for you in terms of whiffs. (Marc Normandin)

In fantasy, what caliber of player would you look for in return for Colby Lewis?(FalcoT from Buffalo, NY)

Lewis is, what, back-end starter in an 8-team league or so? So in that case you'd probably want to go out and get someone who specializes in something, like steals, in which case a Brett Gardner would be a good pickup. But is Lewis really that valuable? If his ERA creeps into the upper 3s/low 4s, are the strikeouts enough to get anything worthwhile in return? (Eric Seidman)

Masterson. This goes back to translations, but it's just very odd to me how dominant Colby Lewis was in Japan. He lead the Central League in strikeouts the last two years with basically the same stuff he had when he was pitching (and not especially well) in the U.S. Maybe he's turned it all around, but it seems like the Japanese variable is doing more of the work. (Tommy Bennett)

So if the qualities of Colby Lewis' pitches are nothing special, what's made him able to dominate hitters in Japan? Presumably that's a skill hitters aren't used to seeing over there, but isn't special in MLB. Identifying those specific factors could be valuable to both MLB teams and Japanese teams.
Heck, maybe Matsuzaka's struggled with the same thing -- he can throw many decent pitches but without any one that's great.(Sky from The Roc, NY)

One way to look at it is by analogy to pinpoint control guys who struggle when they hit the majors. Lewis had a (filthy) 369/49 K/BB ratio in two season in Japan. He walked 19 guys last year. That just isn't realistic in the major leagues, because if you left that many low-90s fastballs in the zone, American League hitters would eat your lunch. *Unless you're Greg Maddux, and he isn't. (Tommy Bennett)

Do you think that projected Rangers rotation could do enough to contend in the AL West with the stronger rotations in Seattle and Anaheim? Holland, Hunter and Lewis are still question marks?(SprungOnSports from Long Island)

I think they have the potential to very good but they will need a lot of things to break right, i.e. their young guys need to improve and Colby Lewis needs to show he really did improve during his time in Japan. I think the Rangers will contend. I think any of the top three could win the division. (John Perrotto)

Not much of a fan of the whole Lewis craze. There are plenty of guys who get it done in the minors, but not at the big league level. (NPB is a fine league, but not quite MLB caliber.) Why on earth would you give one of them a two-year deal? Itís a great story line, and I may end up wrong with this one, but heís a risk that I wouldnít want to take on. (Russell A. Carleton)

I've heard that Colby Lewis has returned from Japan. Think anyone picks him up?(Ira from North Texas)

Maybe; it's not quite like my flying to Europe and telling the Bundesliga I'm available, after all. But he's 30, and he's gotten mauled in the majors. I'd take the suggestion made by Scott Atchison's similar return, and the barely-above-minimum deal that he got from Boston. (Christina Kahrl)

BP Roundtables

No BP Roundtables have mentioned this guy.

PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

Colby Lewis has thrown 14,680 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2015, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season, the MLB Postseason and Spring Training. In 2015, he has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (90mph) and Slider (84mph), also mixing in a Sinker (89mph), Curve (78mph) and Change (84mph).